1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to voice-recognition software applications. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a system and method for voicemail transcription.
2. Background of the Invention
Leaving voice messages on voicemail mailboxes or on telephone answering machines have become commonplace. In the business world, it is not uncommon for a person to receive long and detailed voicemail or answering machine messages. Such long messages may have important information or detailed descriptions that are necessary to document in written form.
However, a conventional way to document such long messages is by having a person listen to and transcribe the message onto a word processing software package. This process may be time-consuming for a businessperson who must await the transcription of the message before, for example, replying to the voicemail message. Also, this conventional process is taxing on transcriptionists, such as secretaries and other staff, who typically must listen to lengthy and detailed messages and transcribe them, in a relatively short period of time, for a person that is awaiting the transcription. The transcriptionist may have other work that needs to be completed, but may have to stop the other work to first transcribe the message for the person awaiting the transcription.
If a person tends to get many lengthy voicemail messages, her secretary will understandably dread the constant duty of transcribing all of these messages. Such dislike for a task may lead to errors in transcription or omission of certain segments of the message.
Alternatively, one may listen to the voicemail message numerous times and take notes on the most important aspects of the message for information or future reference. However, this method necessarily leaves out much information and may inadvertently leave out some of the most important information of a recorded message. Furthermore, it may be necessary to hear a message several times before noting down all the important aspects of the message. Repeatedly listening to the same voicemail message is time-consuming and an inefficient use of time. However, conventional voicemail and answering machines do not provide any other alternatives than to either take notes while listening to a message, or having someone transcribe the message, which is both time-consuming and economically unfeasible.
A system and method, typically used in conventional voicemail systems, are depicted in FIG. 1. Although the method shown in FIG. 1 presents a series of steps in a particular order, the order of such steps may be changed without affecting the overall function or limitations of such a conventional method. For example, instead of deciding what to do with a recorded message at step 103 after hearing the message at step 102, the message may be saved, deleted, or forwarded before the message has finished playing rather than after the complete playback of the message.
As shown in FIG. 1, a user at step 101 accesses a conventional voicemail system by dialing a voicemail phone number. The voicemail system typically informs the user that there are new messages on the voicemail system. The user then listens to the messages at step 102. The messages may be either new messages that have not been previously heard by the user, old messages that have already been heard by the user, or saved messages that have been saved into a storage area for a pre-designated period of time typically set by the system.
After hearing a particular message, the user then considers several options, as shown in step 103, on how to handle each message. The user may save the message, as shown in step 104, wherein the message is saved in a memory storage area of the voicemail system. Typically, the message is saved for a predetermined period of time, such as, for example, two weeks, after which time the message is automatically deleted by the system. When the message is saved, the user may retrieve and re-hear the message multiple times. Typically, the user must save and/or replay an important message multiple times to be able to extract important information from the message. This conventional process is inefficient and time-consuming.
After hearing a message, the user could delete the message, as shown in step 105. Deleting the message permanently removes the message from the message system. Thus, once a message is deleted, there typically is no way of retrieving the message. A message is only deleted when a user has understood its information and no further information is needed from the message. However, sometimes there is information on messages that are deleted that would be important to document or record for future use or reference. However, once a message is deleted, such documentation or recording typically is impossible.
Alternatively, a user may choose to instantly forward a recorded message to one or more designated recipients, as shown at step 106. Typically, the user can add an additional introduction to the forwarded message so that the one or more recipients may hear an additional message from the user in addition to the forwarded message. Such an introduction may be, for example, instructions to a transcriptionist, such as a secretary, to transcribe the attached message. Furthermore, forwarding such messages to a transcriptionist is a typical way of getting the message transcribed. However, because of the limitations of having a third party transcribe a message, as discussed above, such a method typically is inefficient and time-consuming. Furthermore, if the user desires to have a message transcribed at an unusual hour that a transcriptionist is unavailable, such as, for example, a late hour in the evening, then the user would not be able to get such a transcription unless the user transcribes the message herself.